Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSBB 2006-09-26 MinutesMINUTES OF THE SUBSTANDARD BUILIDING BOARD CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was calling to order at 2:03p.m. 2. Roll Call PRESENT Chairman Gany Cope Vice Chair Brian Crowson Place 4 Philip Orr Place 5 John Larriviere ABSENT Alternate Bob McCary CITY STAFF Building Official Dave Pendley Dir. Neighborhood Services Jo Ann Stout Code Enforcement Officer Debbie Heizer Attorney April Virnig Recording Secretary Tiffany Inay 3. VOTING OF CHAIRMAN AND VICE-CHAIR Garry Cope: It is time for our voting of Chairman and Vice-Chair so as temporary chair today I open the floor for nominations. John Larriviere: I nominate Gany Cope. Garry Cope: Any other nominations? Philip Orr: I'll second that. Garry Cope: All in favor say I. Let the record show the motion was approved unanimous. (4-0) Garry Cope: Now we need aVice-Chair. Any nominations? We have a nomination for Brian Crowson. Any other nominations? Any seconds? John Larriviere: I'll second. Garry Cope: We have a nomination and a second. Let the record show a unanimous vote. (4-0) 4. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FROM OCTOBER 5, 2005. Garry Cope: Our first order of business is the consideration of the minutes from the last meeting. Do I hear a motion? John Larriviere: I'd like to make a motion to accept the minutes. Philip Orr: I'll second the motion. Garry Cope: All in favor of accepting the minutes say I. Let the record show the motion was approved unanimous. (4-0) 4. SSB2006-4 PUBLIC HEARING FOR BLOCK A LOT A10 HEWITT ESTATES ADDITION, KNOWN AS 7512 BUCK ST. Garry Cope: Now we would like to bring SSB2006-04 block A lot A10 in the Hewitt Estates Addition known as 7512 Buck St. to the table. Speaking for the City will be Debbie Heizer. Debbie Heizer: I'm here to present case number 2006-04. The property's located at 7512 Buck St. The property is zoned R1 Single family and it's currently vacant. In your packet your find an ariel indicating the location of the property. The owner of the property for our tax record is American Heritage Mortgage Company and the deed from Tarrant County indicates the owner to be American Heritage Mortgage Company as well. A Vacate, Repair or Demolish letter dated August 22, 2006 was mailed certified and returned unclaimed. Owner of record was notified by certified mail on September 15, 2006. We have only received one receipt. At this time we have no permits on file and the photos I'm about to present to you are true and accurate photos taken by myself. The brief history, the inspection request was sent to the owner on January 11, 2006. A search warrant was obtained on January 24, 2006 and was received on February 10, 2006. A notice of Order was mailed March 31, 2006. The notice of Hearing was mailed April 13, 2006. At that time we had no response from the property owner. The April 2006 Board Meeting was postponed. A new title search was requested on August 14, 2006. The Notice of Order was mailed August 24, 2006. A Notice of Hearing was mailed September 15, 2006. Photo 1 and Photo 2 shows the exterior view of the accessory building. NRH Code of Ordinances Chapter 98- ~. 462(b)(13) Inadequate Sanitation-Buildings or portions thereof shall be deemed substandard when they are unsanitary... including general dilapidation or improper maintenance" Exterior walls not maintained, paint peeling from exterior walls, exterior door falling off structure. Photos 3 and 4 show more examples of improper maintenance and general dilapidation. Photo 5 and 6-NRH Code of Ordinances Chapter 98-462 (k) "Hazardous or insanitary premises- the accumulation of weeds, vegetation, junk, dead organic matter, debris, garbage, offal, rat harborages, stagnant water, combustible materials and similar materials or conditions on a premises constitutes a nuisance to be abated by this article" These are a couple of photos of hazardous materials stored inside the accessory building. Photos 7, 8 and 9 show construction material and debris being stored inside the accessory building. A couple more examples of inadequate sanitation... Buildings or portions thereof shall be deemed substandard when they are unsanitary... including general dilapidation or improper maintenance". You can see the ceiling is falling and there's an apparent water leak. Photos 12 and 13 both taken September 29, 2006, NRH Code of ordinances Chapter 34 Section 33 (10) Nuisance "Permitting the accumulation or the dumping of garbage, rubbish, rubble or debris, building materials, building rubbish, discarded furniture, tree limbs, leaves, household waste items, ashes, inoperable household appliances, vehicle tires, scrap metal, or automobile parts on any private property and/or depositing the same onto any public right of way or private property." You can see lawn equipment, tires, brush, wood and other miscellaneous junk. The fire dept was not available to come today but one of them did type up a letter for us. I do have a recommendation that I'll go ahead and read. It is the recommendation of the City of North Richland Hills Code Enforcement Division all hazardous material be removed and structure demolished: The property is a substandard and a dangerous building by reason of the conditions set forth in this hearing, and that the nuisances alleged in the notices issued by staff exist on the property. It is hereby recommended that the following shall be completed within thirty (30) days: Hazardous material be disposed of by a licensed Environmental Service Company and shall be documented and disposed of according to all State and Federal laws and proof of disposal reports shall be submitted to the Fire Marshal's Office for filing. If any product has escaped any portion of the building, proper soil testing shall be conducted as required by The Texas Commission of Environmental Quality and a full report of contamination cleanup submitted to the Fire Marshal's Office for filing. Upon removal of all hazardous material, permit is to be obtained and structure is to be demolished to grade and any and all junk and debris be disposed of. If such corrective action in 2 and/or 3 above is not completed within the time there allowed, the City of North Richland Hills is hereby authorized to take such corrective action and to assess the cost of such action against the property as provided by the City's ordinances. Garry Cope: Anyone have any questions? Brian Crowson: Does anyone live around this house? Debbie Heizer: There are no houses around it. Brian Crowson: Can that not be salvaged and used for the Parks dept? Debbie Heizer: I do not know if we are permitted to take that out of there and use it for somebody else's use. Brian Crowson: Who pays for the removal of this? Debbie Heizer: We will contract it out and get the lowest bid. We would then have the work done and send the bill to who we show to be the property owner if that bill is not paid within 30 days we will then file a lien on the property. Garry Cope: Any other questions? Philip Orr: Are the taxes being paid on the property? Debbie Heizer: We have not checked that. Philip Orr: I inspected that property yesterday and they have a swam of bees as well. Debbie Heizer: If I might go ahead and add I was informed today that our board member's are not supposed to be going to the property to view prior to the meetings. We did not know that until now. April Virnig: Member's of the board you do sit in a quaze judicial capacity. So that you do not impair the fairness of this procedure, you are not permitted to go out and obtain evidence of your own outside of what's presented to you in the hearing. This is to ensure fairness for any parties that attend the hearing because both the city and the property owner should they chose to present their side or entitle to know exactly what evidence you've reviewed and exactly what evidence you're using to base your determinations on. If you go out to the property and do your own investigation or gather your own facts then neither the City nor the property owner would know that you have that information and it could jeopardize the impartiality of the decision that you are rendered. It could invalidate your decision. Philip Orr: Flipping the coin over, you've got the other side of the coin saying the opposite of what you just got done saying. It's hard for me to make a decision from photos. April Virnig: You need to think about this in terms of the fact that you all sit in a roll that's very much like a judge. I'm sure you can understand that if a judge has a case presented before them, while the judge may like to go out and find other information on his/her own, that's just not appropriate. In order to keep the proceedings fair to all parties the judge does have to make their decision based on the evidence that is presented before them. So in order to have that fairness to all sides you do need to base your decision on what you are given at the hearing. Brian Crowson: I agree with the both of you. With that being said, the packet that we received with all the pictures, does that not give us some sort of bias before the meeting? April Virnig: The packet that you received is something that is given to everyone on the board as well as the City Staff, as well as the other side should they chose to participate in the hearings, so that is information that is equally available to all parties, and everyone involved in the determination. It does become part of the record because that is the evidence that is presented by your Code Enforcement Officer. Garry Cope: What you're saying is, if we go out and inspect the property by ourselves we have the possibility of prejudicing ourselves to the judgment of the case. April Virnig: Yes, exactly. As well as the possibility of depriving the property owner of their right to due process. Due process says that they will be given fair notice of all the information that's going to be used in the determination of their case. Garry Cope: Understood. Do we have any further questions for Debbie? I have a couple. Can you tell me the reason for the first postponement? Debbie Heizer: We did not have enough board members. Garry Cope: I thought I heard you comment that you had one response from the owner is that correct? Debbie Heizer: It wasn't ftom the owner it was a bank that showed up on the title search. Someone had signed the green card and it came back. Garry Cope: Any further questions? April Virnig: I have a few final questions. Was due diligence done to ascertain all of the potential lien holders or holders of this property? Debbie Heizer: I do believe so, this isn't the first time we have sent this information out. This is the second time this year. April Virnig: At least 10 days prior to this hearing notice that included the date, time and place of the hearing was sent certified mail to any owners or lien holders that you are aware of? Debbie Heizer: Yes it was. April Virnig: Was notice also posted at the property? Debbie Heizer: Yes it was posted on the North Wall. April Virnig: Ok, and notice was also published in the newspaper? Debbie Heizer: Yes it was. It was in the Star-Telegram. Brian Crowson: I do have one more question. When was this structure built? Debbie Heizer: I have no idea. Brian Crowson: I guess there hasn't been any kind of permit search? Dave Pendley: Our departments only kept records going back to about the 1980's. Brian Crowson: So you think this was built when it was Smithfield? Dave Pendley: I don't know if it's that old, but it's before our records show. Garry Cope: At this time I'd like to allow any person representing the owner of the property to come forward. Let the record show that no one came forward. Now that we've got all the input from the city and the property owner, I'll open it up for comments and questions from the board. The chair will entertain a motion. April Virnig: The first motion we need is for you to determine rather or not this building is substandard and dangerous and in violation of the City Ordinance. Then the next step that you take after that is to do your Order. Brian Crowson: I make a motion that the property is a substandard and a dangerous building by reason of the conditions set forth in this hearing, and that the nuisances alleged in the notices issued by staff exist on the property. Garry Cope: I have a motion, do I have any comments? Do I have a second? Philip Orr: I'll second it. Garry Cope: All in favor say I. Let the record show a unanimous vote. Now I need a recommendation for what we would like done. I have a legal question. Can the Chairman make motions? April Virnig: Unless you have procedural rules that this board has adopted that state no, the typical rules for it would not prohibit that. But I'm not familiar with this board's rules and procedures. Garry Cope: Ok John Larriviere: I move to make an order. It is hereby recommended that the following shall be completed within thirty (30) days: Hazardous material be disposed of by a licensed Environmental Service Company and shall be documented and disposed of according to all State and Federal laws and proof of disposal reports shall be submitted to the Fire Marshal's Office for filing. If any product has escaped any portion of the building, proper soil testing shall be conducted as required by The Texas Commission of Environmental Quality and a full report of contamination cleanup submitted to the Fire Marshal's Office for filing. Upon removal of all hazardous material, permit is to be obtained and structure is to be demolished to grade and any and all junk and debris be disposed of. If such corrective action in 2 and/or 3 above is not completed within the time there allowed, the City of North Richland Hills is hereby authorized to take such corrective action and to assess the cost of such action against the property as provided by the city's ordinances. Garry Cope: Any comments? Would anyone like to amend the motion? Do I have a second? Philip Orr: I'll second it. Garry Cope: We have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. Let the record show the vote was unanimous. (4-0). With that I bring us to adjournment. 4. Adjournment The Vice Chairman adjourned the meeting at 4:07p.m. Vice Chairman: